The Michigan State Spartans and the Michigan Wolverines meet Sunday in college basketball action from Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. Here’s a Michigan vs. Michigan State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Michigan vs. Michigan State pick.
Michigan State Spartans Betting Preview
Michigan State managed to win each of their first eight games this year. After falling to Duke, Michigan State beat Penn State, Toledo, Oakland, and Cornell before another loss to Nebraska. Next came wins over USC, Northwestern, Indiana, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, and Rutgers. The Spartans went 3-3 in the next six outings, beating Illinois, UCLA, and Ohio State with losses to Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Following more wins over Purdue, Indiana, and Rutgers, the Spartans are 25-5 overall.
Matched up against Rutgers in the Thursday game, the Spartans had the slimmest of leads in the locker room, clinging to a 31-30 edge. Michigan State hit a 60-57 advantage in the second half and powered out the 91-87 victory on their home court as the game came to a close. Leading the team in scoring were Coen Carr (six rebounds) and Jeremy Fears (eight assists), each with 21 points.
Michigan Wolverines Betting Preview
Over on the Wolverines’ side, they managed to win each of their first 14 games before falling to Wisconsin on January 10. After that were wins over Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Michigan State in the next six, then wins over Penn State, Ohio State, Northwestern, UCLA, and Purdue. After another loss to Duke came wins over Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa for a 28-2 record in the books this year.
On Thursday versus Iowa, the Wolverines were all tied up 30-30 going into the second half. Michigan hit a 41-38 run the rest of the way, eventually powering out the victory 71-68 in the end on the road. Tops in scoring were Yaxel Lendeborg with 16 points, eight boards, and two assists, and Morez Johnson with 16 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes of action in the victory effort.
Why the Michigan Wolverines will win
- Michigan has won each of its last 14 games against conference opponents.
- Michigan State has lost each of its last six day games against Top 5 AP-ranked opponents.
- Michigan has won the first half in 16 of its last 17 games as a top-10 AP-ranked team at Crisler Center.
Why the Michigan State Spartans will win
- Michigan State has won each of its last 11 Sunday day games as an AP-ranked team.
- Michigan has lost each of its last six March games as a top-15 AP-ranked team against a top-10 AP-ranked team.
- Michigan has lost the first half in eight of its last nine day games against AP-ranked opponents.
Michigan vs Michigan State Prediction
I’m going to take a stab at Michigan State but you could certainly call this one either way; it’ll be a good game. The Spartans were able to power past Rutgers in a home win this week on 58.5 percent shooting, 83.3 percent (25-of-30) from the line and a 35-21 rebounding edge. Michigan State did give up a healthy 47.7 percent shooting on defense, though, and coughed up 15 turnovers along the way. Still, the Spartans are sitting on a nice five-game win streak right now with 76 or more points scored in four of those.
The last time these teams shared the floor, the Spartans took a loss at home, 83-71, on January 30. In that one, Michigan State didn’t shoot very well from the field (36.7 percent) or outside (4-of-23 for 17.4 percent) and had 12 turnovers. That said, the Spartans added a nice performance at the line (23-of-27 for 85.2 percent) and had a 32-26 edge on points in the paint. Michigan State has got to get that shooting percentage up in this road rematch if they want to contend for the potential victory.